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The six-day TransRockies goes from British Columbia to Alberta. Photo by Dan Hudson

North America’s first multi-day mountain bike race — the TransRockies — is returning to its origins in 2010 with a new route.

In 2002, the first TransRockies mountain bike race rolled out of Fernie, British Columbia, bound for Canmore, Alberta, nearly 600km and seven riding days away. In 2010, riders will again start and finish in the same towns by following a continuous 400km route through the high Canadian Rockies that includes the biggest mountains and more singletrack, according to race organizers.

“Our estimate indicates that the that 500 riders who come to ride in 2010 will spend over 70 percent of their time on trails,” said Paul Done of Epic Media.

Some 100 pioneers headed into the unknown in North America’s first multi-day epic mountain bike race. At the time, they couldn’t know that the TransRockies would change the face of mountain biking in North America, spawning a host of multi-day epic imitators and attracting thousands of competitors from all around the World.

Supported by Travel Alberta, TransRockies IX opens with a time trial around the iconic mountain biking destination of Fernie, BC before heading north and east to Elkford, the highest incorporated community in Canada. Stage 3 takes riders up and over the Continental Divide and across the border into Alberta where four days of riding on the legendary trails of Kananaskis Country await. Overnight stopovers include scenic wilderness campsites and two authentic Western ranches.

On the stages Stage 5 and 6, riders spend two immense Rocky Mountain days with with epic ridgeline riding on the spine of the Rockies. The ultimate stage sees riders tackling a sweet singletrack ride along the TransCanada Trail to Canmore Nordic centre, site of the 1988 Olympics and multiple World Cup mountain bike races, before descending onto the Main Street in Canmore for a finish line party like no other.